Looking For a Father
by ClaretheBear
Summary: (Modern AU) After her mother abandons her, shy 16 year old Miku "Mickey" Stevens meets the father she hasn't seen in 12 years, Erwin Smith. He runs a cafe in Trost and has a wife, a son, and a nephew! Making new friends and finding love in a boy named Eren Yeager is all new to her. Will Mickey ever fit in to her new life?
1. Chapter 1

**My first fan fiction! I hope you enjoy it! Its a Modern AU!  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

'_Take a deep breath Miku. You can do this!' _I thought to myself.

I stood right outside of a café called The Recon Café. It's a little gray café in Trost. The sign was green and yellow and it had a pair of wings that replaced the O in Recon. I looked at my reflection. I fixed my long black hair, straightened my gray long-sleeved stretched out sweater and my black leggings. I checked my brown uggs for dirt. Then I checked my make-up. The black eye liner makes my blue eyes stand out better. I fixed my silver locket too. A cold gust of wind blew and I shivered.

_Ugh! So cold! I guess winter is right around the corner. The walls make this place a bit colder than the outside. Man, I'm so nervous too. I hope he's here. I came all the way here to see him. I didn't know that Brass was that far away from Trost. It took me 4 hours on a train to get here.'_ I thought to myself. I tightened my grip on my brown over-the-shoulder bag and stepped inside.

There were gray tables with the pair of wings engraved on them. I silently took a seat near the window. I looked at my watch. It was 1:00. '_Ugh where is Officer Pixis? He better not gotten himself drunk again and slept in._' I looked at my surroundings and saw a group of teenagers hanging out in the corner. They were yelling and laugh at each other.

"Jean! That's my sandwich! Get your own!" shouted a freckled, black haired boy wearing a red polo shirt.

"What I'm hungry!" replied a horse-looking boy wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt.

"Guys stop fighting!" shouted the tall black haired boy wearing a V-neck black shirt. Then, a blonde well built boy took the Jean's milkshake.

"Reiner!" yelled Jean. Reiner shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of the milkshake.

"What I'm thirsty. " replied Reiner. Jean was so angry; it looked like he had steam coming out of his ears. Then Jean started shouting at Reiner who just sat there and continued drinking Jean's milkshake. I started the giggle a little at the little argument. Then a blonde shoulder length haired boy came up to my table.

"Hello, my name is Armin! What can I get you?" he said kindly. He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans with a gray apron with the pair of wings in the front.

"Oh! Um… m-may I have… c-coffee p-please." I said softly and nervously. Armin wrote down my order and gave me a smile.

"I'll be right back with your order."

"T-Thank you." '_Ugh_ _I'm too shy. I can't even say a simple sentence without shy.'_ I took a deep breath to relax. I started rubbing my locket to calm me down. All of a sudden, I heard some glass break.

I turned my head slightly and see Jean grabbing Reiner's green plaid shirt collar. Jean raised his fist high. A girl with black hair, another girl with blonde hair, and a girl with brown hair tried to hold Jean back.

"Jean calm down!" said the black haired girl.

"Come on Jean!" pleaded the blonde.

"Shut the fuck up!" he shouts.

"Jean!" shouted Armin who was running towards their table. "You're going to scare the customers!"

A bald boy started to laugh loudly, a blonde girl with her hair pulled back just sighed, and a tanned girl with her hair also pulled back just watched the interaction. Then, a woman with orange hair came to my table with my coffee.

"Here's your coffee. Please enjoy. Oh! And sorry about the ruckus!" she said.

"Oh no its okay." I said shyly. She started to stare at me. I didn't know what to do so I stared at her back.

"You have pretty eyes!" she said suddenly. My face went red from embarrassment.

"T-Thank you!" I replied with my voice cracking.

She smiled and left to go to the group of teens.

"What's going on here?!" the woman asked.

"Mrs. Smith!" shouted the teens. I froze on the spot. '_Mrs. Smith!?_ _That means he's remarried! Oh dear! What do I do!?' _I started rubbing my locket again out of nervousness. I always rub my locket. It's a habit of mine. Then I locked eyes with a man with steel eyes. He was at the counter just watching me. He's wearing a white apron with some grease stains and had a hair net. My guess is that he's the cook. Eventually, he looked away and watched Mrs. Smith scolding the teens.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! Do not to shout!" Mrs. Smith scolded the teens.

"Aunt Petra please calm down!" pleaded Armin. _'Aunt? I guess I have a cousin then?' _I thought_. _

"Sorry Mrs. Petra!" said the teens.

"What's going on here?" asked a deep voice. I turned my head and saw a big blonde man with blue eyes.

"Mr. Smith…" said the teens sacredly.

"Uncle Erwin!" said a surprised Armin. I gasped. _'Erwin! That's Erwin Smith!? Oh my, that's him. Oh dear! I've been looking for him! My father!' _I froze on the spot and pondered on what to do now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 yay!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

I sat frozen in my seat pondering on what to do. _'Oh my god! What do I say?! What should I do?!'_ Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Officer Pixis.

"Officer Pixis! What took you so long? Were you drinking again?" I asked.

"You already answered the question, why even ask?" he replied. He took a seat in front of me with his arms crossed.

"How many times have I told you not to drink on the job?"

"How long have you known me? Seven? Eight years? I don't even know. All well." Then he took out his flask and took a swig.

"You shouldn't drink in a café." I said softly.

"This is a café? Besides I'm not going to get drunk here. I'll get drunk when I get back to the hotel. The alcohol in Trost is amazing! It's three times stronger than the alcohol in Brass." he said happily. He takes another swig of his flask and puts it in his tan trench coat.

I have known Officer Dot Pixis for eight years now. My mother wasn't an A-class citizen. My mother was a gambler and an alcoholic. But, she didn't do it around me. My mom usually goes out to do gambling and drinking when I'm at school or something.

Even though Officer Pixis knew about, he couldn't arrest her because she didn't neglect nor abused me. She took care of me but, I mostly took care of her. Instead he watched over me. He's like an uncle to me.

"So are you ready?" he asks.

"I… I don't know." I said hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help you and keep watch so you don't runaway." he laughs. I turned my head out of embarrassment.

"Are you ready now?" he asked again. I rubbed my locket and took long breathes. _'Okay, this is it.'_

"Okay! Let's go!" I said energetically. We got up from our seats and I let Officer Pixis walk in front of me. "Mr. Smith!" Officer Pixis called out. Erwin turns around. Officer Pixis pulls out his badge as he walks towards Erwin. Surprised, Erwin gave his full attention to Pixis. As we walked, I heard the whispering teens at the table.

"Holy shit, it's a cop!" said Jean.

"That's so cool!" said the bald boy.

"I wondered what Mr. S did?" wondered the freckled boy.

"Wow! Who's the cutie?" asked Jean. Then, Erwin gave them a frightening stare for them to stop talking.

"What can I do for you officer…?" asked Erwin.

"Officer –"said Pixis till a high pitched voice calls out to Erwin.

"Dad, where is my basketball!?" said a running nine-year-old boy.

"Lucas, you got to stop misplacing it. That's how you lose things." said Erwin, kindly. He looked at the boy with gentle eyes. The little boy had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt with short tan pants and white sneakers. Erwin picks the little boy up. _'He looks so much like Erwin'_. And that's when it hit me. _'He… he has a son.' _Thinking that,I stopped in my tracks.

"You were saying officer…?" Erwin asks.

"It's Pixis. Officer Dot Pixis. I am here to-"he continues. But, seeing the little boy called Lucas, I decided to not to tell him who I am. I ran out the door. The last thing I heard was Pixis shouting my name.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

"_Ugh! Why are uggs so hard to run in!?'_ I ran away from the café. I ran till a hand grabbed my arm. I turned around and met the eyes of an angry Officer Pixis. I started to struggle.

"Miku what the hell is wrong with you!?" He shouted. Hearing my real name made me stop fighting back.

"Why are you running away? You have been waiting for months to meet this guy and you're just going to give up!?" I stayed silent, trying to fight back tears. I looked down at my feet while he lectures me.

"What's wrong Miku?" He asked in worry. I took deep breathes to calm myself.

"I'm…not needed." I said in a hoarse voice. Then I broke into tears.

"Why would you think that?"

"Look at his life Pixis! He has a beautiful wife, a nephew, and a cute son! He's happy!" I shouted at him. "If I tell him I'm his daughter I…I… would ruin the new life he built. I'm not needed there. I rather be alone than to destroy someone's happiness." I felt his hands on my head.

"You're…my daughter?" asked a low voice. I looked behind Pixis and saw Mr. Smith standing there in shock. "Miku… is that…you?" he asked. I froze on the spot. Pixis turns around and puts his arm around me.

"Mr. Smith, this is Miku "Mickey" Stevens, your daughter." Pixis says slowly. Erwin became wide up and took one step at a time towards us. While Pixis was distracted, I quickly ran away.

"Mickey!'

"Miku!"

I hear their shouts, but I kept running. I ran into a park with a nice little lake surrounded by trees. Out of breathe I sat down on the nice green grass and looked across the lake. I watched the leaves fall gently onto the lake and float away. I tried to take deep breathes and rubbing my locket, but it wasn't working. I started to cry again. Then, I heard something.

I turned my head to where the sound came from. There was a boy standing watching me. He was a bit dark skinned with bright blue green eyes. He wore a leather jacket with a gray shirt under it, dark blue jeans, and black shoes.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I heard crying and I was going to help and stuff!" said the flustered boy. I start to laugh at him. He stops talking and looks at me with a puzzled look.

"What's so funny?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." I said while wiping my tears. He started to walk towards me. I watched him as he sat down next to me.

"Why were you crying?" he asked.

"Um, just some stuff that's all. I don't think you would be interested."

"Try me." He said looking in to my eyes. My heart started to beat. I took some breathes and started to talk.

"I came to look for someone and I did, but I ran away."

Why?"

"He seemed happy without me. So I'm not needed."

"You didn't try to talk to him?"

"I tried, but I couldn't."

"You have to try harder! You can't just go through half way and give up. You have to give your all!" he takes my hands into his. "You can do it!" he said looking deep into my eyes. His words gave me strength. My heart started to beat faster. I nodded my head. He smiles. _'He's handsome when he smiles.'_ I started to blush and looked away. He started to blush too and let go of my hands. Then, we went silent.

"Do you like the outdoors?" he suddenly asked. I smiled and nodded. After that we started to talk about other things such as food and movies. We talked till he notice the sun going down. He suddenly gets up.

"Awe man I gotta go!" he shouted. "It was nice meeting you. Oh by the way, what's your name?"

"Miku but call me Mickey." I answered with a smile.

"Mickey."He says slowly. He gives me a smile and starts to run.

"Wait! I didn't get your name!" I shouted. He stops and turns to me.

"Eren! Eren Yeager!" he shouts back. He waves at me and runs away.

'_Eren Yeager huh?'_ I smiled. I looked at the sun set_. 'I'll go back and have a proper talk with Mr. Smith'_ I decided. I slowly got up and walked back towards the Recon Café.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

I slowly walked up to the door of the Recon Café. I started to rub my locket. _'I can do this! I have to do it. I can't runaway.' _I hesitantly reached for the door and slowly pulled it open. When I walked in, Armin, Mrs. Smith, Erwin, Lucas, and Pixis was sitting in the middle of the café. Armin gave me a puzzled look, Lucas looked down at the table, and Mrs. Smith was lost in thought. I looked over at Erwin. We meet each other's eyes. Erwin started to get up when suddenly Pixis gets up and rushes towards me. Then he hits me in the head.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" he shouted. "You are a dumbass! I was so fucking worried about you!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Pixis." I said softly. I looked down at my feet and rubbed my head while he scolded me.

"You moron, what did I tell you about leaving your stuff!? What if you were lost or kidnapped!?"

"I'm really sorry Mr. Pixis." I bowed my head.

"Geez, I thought I was going to have a heart attack." He sighs in relief.

"Well, come on, you need to talk to the Smiths now. I refused to say anything until you came back." He said seriously. He puts his hand on my upper back and gives me a little push. I slowly walked up to the table.

"Um…" I started, but I shut my mouth. _'Damn what do I say.' _Then I remembered what Eren said about giving my all. I took deep breathes and started again.

"Hello, my name is Miku Stevens! Please call me Mickey!" I said with my voice cracking in a few places._ 'Damnit, I fucked that up. I'm so sorry Eren! Your words were wasted on me!'_ I silently apologized to Eren for my mess up. Pixis puts his hand on my upper back again. He starts to pat my back.

"Calm down Mickey." He said kindly. "I'll take it from here now."

"Armin, Lucas, Petra go upstairs please." said Erwin.

"But uncle, we both want to know what's going on!" said Armin. Lucas gives a big nod.

"Come on dad!" Lucas pleads. Erwin gives them a glare. Petra gently touches Erwin's arm.

"Let us stay. We have the right to know." She said gently. Erwin gives them a long, hard look. Finally, he grunts and gives a nod.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Thanks Dad!" All three of them gave him a big, loving smile. He smiles back in reply.

"Starting back from this afternoon, my name is Officer Dot Pixis from Brass Police Department." said Pixis as he shows his badge again.

"Brass? Isn't that on the farther side of Wall Rose?" asked Armin.

"It's also the most poorest of the wall." added Erwin.

"Yeah that's right. After the Titan Disease entered from Wall Maria, Brass and several other towns and villages became poor and full of criminal activity." said Pixis.

"But I heard it was getting better, thanks to Princess Historia." said Armin.

"It's slowly getting better but, it's not there yet. Anyway back to the point, Mr. Smith, this girl is your daughter." Pixis said bluntly.

Everyone went silent. It was so quiet; you could hear a pin drop. They all were in shock. Erwin suddenly gets up and runs to kitchen.

"Wow, I knew they'd be surprised but not that surprised." said Pxis.

"I'm sorry I-I don't understand." said Petra.

"It means you have a long lost stepdaughter." Pixis said as he takes out his flask.

"Mom? Does that mean I have a sister?" Lucas asks. Armin stares hard at me. Petra seemed confused and was scratching her hands, not knowing what to say. Then Erwin come back with a shoebox. He slams it down onto the table.

"Honey, what's that?" asked Petra. Erwin slowly opens the shoebox. Inside there was an old small teddy bear, pictures, and some baby clothes. He takes the bear out and shoves it into my hands.

"What's his name?" he asked seriously. I looked at the bear. The bear was light brown with a red bowtie. I studied it carefully. _'I've seen this somewhere. Where though?'_ Then suddenly I remembered something.

"_Papa you're home!" I said_

"_Hi, sweetheart." Erwin says happily. He takes off his military bag, jacket and straps. Then he pulls out a little box with red polka-dots finished with a red ribbon._

"_Happy Birthday!" He says joyfully. I looked at him with wide eyes.I gave him the biggest smile I could do._

"_A gift for me? Thank you!" I said. He gives me the box. I ripped it open and pulled out a small teddy bear with a red bowtie._

"_A teddy bear! Yay! Thank you so much! I love it!" I said and gave my father a hug. He pats my back gently. _

"_What are you going to name him?" he asks. I stared at the bear, trying to think of a name._

_His name is…_

"Bubby… his name… is Bubby." I said slowly. Yeah, that's right, Bubby. I got him for my 4th birthday. I forgot all about him. I slowly pulled the bear into a little hug.

"It really is you. Miku, my little girl." Erwin said kindly. I looked at him. His eyes were narrowed and tears were coming down his cheeks. "My little girl…is home…finally home." He says softly and pulls me into a hug. I felt his tears on my sweater. I slowly raised my hands and gently patted his back.

"Papa…" I said hoarsely. Then I felt my tears rolling down my face. We both hugged each other tightly and cried together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan nor Adventure Time.**

We were hugging and crying for a long time. Finally, he let go of me. I accidently dropped the bear I was holding. '_Oh I forgot about Bubby.' _Erwin bends down and picks up Bubby. He starts dusting him off and makes him dance with his large hands.

"Oh my god, that's embarrassing." I said. I started to laugh and wipe my face with my sleeve. Erwin reaches out and wipes my tears awkwardly.

"Erwin, what's going on?" asks Petra. Erwin looks down at the ground, at a loss of what to say next.

"I have a cousin?" asks Armin.

"I have sister? That's so cool!" said Lucas. His eyes were big and wide. He smiled from ear to ear.

"Yup." answers Erwin. "But, I don't understand. What is going on? Why is Miku here? Where is Nanami? What happened?" Erwin starts to ask a lot of questions.

"Have a seat Mr. Erwin, we need to have a talk." said Pixis. He pulls out a chair for me and I sat in the chair kind of scared of what Pixis is about say.

"Armin and Lucas please go to your rooms." said Petra.

"Aunty please, I want to know what's going on!" shouted Armin.

"Listen to her Armin." said Erwin with a serious tone. Armin became quiet and grabbed the little boy's arm.

"Let's go Lucas. Let's go watch Adventure Time." Armin said kindly to Lucas.

"Okay." said Lucas. The both of them started to walk to the kitchen. After they were gone, Pixis pulls out some paper work out of his trench coat.

"Mickey here is in a little pickle." Pixis said. He starts to flip the pages.

"What's going on?" Erwin asks seriously.

"Mickey's mother, Nanami Stevens has disappeared." explained Pixis as he gently sets the papers down onto the table.

"Disappeared? When did this happen? Why?" questioned Erwin. Erwin started to worry.

"She disappeared three weeks ago, leaving Mickey here all by herself." Pixis answers. "Nobody has seen or heard from her since then. Nobody even knows why she left." Petra and Erwin seemed shocked.

"Maybe it's something for work." said Petra.

"Well she-" I started to say but then Pixis cuts me off.

"Her boss from the paper company said that she did not have any business trips or anything planned." said Pixis. _'What? Why is he saying that? Mom works at a diner. Then gambles it away or buys alcohol.' _

"The BPD has decided that Nanami is not a well-fit mother after abandoning her daughter. She has lost the rights for Mickey and now Mickey needs a home. My team started to look for relatives. So, we looked into Nanami's background and saw that she used to be married to you, Mr. Smith."

"Married!?" yelled Petra.

"Yes. He was married to Nanami Touka, a foreign exchange student from Osaka, Japan. They were married for six years." answered Pixis. "According to the reports, Nanami left you and disappeared, taking Mickey with her."

"Yeah that's true." Erwin said grimly. "I loved Nanami, but I didn't understand why she left. I told the police, but they couldn't find her nor Miku. There wasn't even a trace."

"Well now, she's here and needs to live with a relative. Will you take her?" After a long silence, Erwin nods.

"Yes."

"Erwin!?" Petra shouts.

"Alright just sign these papers." Pixis hands him the papers. Erwin takes the papers and pulls out a pen out of his pocket.

"What department are you from Officer Pixis?" asks Petra.

"I just got promoted to homicide." He answers proudly.

"Then why are you dealing with Miku if you are in homicide?" questioned Petra.

"I knew Nanami and Mickey for a while. I felt better if she didn't have to deal with some stranger from child services. So, I persuaded by boss to give me this case." Pixis answers.

"All done." said Erwin.

"I will contact the TPD to finish the rest." Pixis gets up and bows his head. "Thank you. Please take care of Mickey. She's shy _**and**_ a big airhead, but she's a good kid. She wouldn't hurt a fly." He smiles as he pats my head.

"I'll get your stuff." He said.

"Let me help you." Ireplied. "I'll be right back." I said to Erwin and Petra. Erwin nods and Petra just stands there not knowing what to say. Then Pixis and I left the café.

"Pixis, why did you lie about mom?" I asked him.

"Mrs. Smith probably wouldn't want you even more then." He answers. "If they found out that your mom was an alcoholic _**and**_ a gambler, they probably didn't want to take care of a child who might be the same. When the time comes, tell them the truth." I stayed quiet for while.

"Okay." I answered. He messes up my hair in reply as we walked back to the hotel.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

It was a quiet night on the way back to café. I walked with my luggage which is one small suitcase. Pixis is with me walking me back so that I don't get mugged or something. The streets are completely empty and the night sky was clear. I could see the stars above me so clearly. Even though it was peaceful, I still couldn't relax. I had too many questions going on in my head.

'_Why did Pixis lie? I know that kids are easily influenced, but come on it's me we're talking about. I didn't go down a bad path. I didn't do drugs, alcohol, or even…the s word that teens are so worried about not losing before graduation. Well I do agree with his point but… I don't know. Maybe I'm over thinking things. Besides there are bigger things I have worry about. Where did mom go? Why she leave? Is she okay? Ugh! Too many question!' _I let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" asked Pixis.

"Oh…um… just…wondering when those papers will be accepted." I lied. Pixis gave me a long hard look. I have always been bad a lying. I am pretty sure he knows that I'm lying.

"This is Trost. Trost has the slowest and laziest policemen in Wall Rose. It's going to take them a while till they notice it." He answers. I guess he is not going to push it. We slowly came up the café. I heard shouts coming from the building. Pixis grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. We stood silently as we heard the voices.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were married!?" shouted Petra.

"I just didn't tell you because it was in the past!" Erwin shouted back.

"The past!? We have been together for 12 years and you thought the past didn't matter!"

"Nanami and I weren't even married that long so it didn't matter. That's why I didn't tell you!"

"Well then tell me?! How did you meet her!? When did you get married!? Tell me everything NOW Erwin Smith!"

"I meet Nanami in college. She was 19 and I was 22. I was already in the military. I was doing some history classes. We were in the same class. We dated for a two years till she got pregnant! So being the good man that I am, I married her! We were only together for six years!" He breathes heavily as he finishes his story.

"Anything else… like how that girl is your daughter." She says harshly. He takes a deep breath.

"Yes she is. Miku is the daughter that I lost so many years ago. I missed her birthdays, first day of schools, and all the times that a father could be there for his child. I missed them all!" he shouts as he slams his fist on a table.

"Erwin…" Petra says softly.

"I'm sorry that agreed to let her stay here without talking to you. I…just wanted her…back in my life again. I want to be her father again." He says honestly and deeply. I heard sniffles from Erwin.

"Then we will have her stay here!" Petra says happily.

"What?"

"Erwin you should have told me that you were married and had a kid. I would accept you anyway. I love you Erwin so please, don't hide things from me. She's your child, and she's mine as well okay?" Petra says lovingly. I heard him grunt. That was the end of the argument.

"I…I almost broke their marriage" I said weakly.

"No you didn't Mickey. He almost did for hiding things from his wife. Nothing is your fault." Pixis said strongly. Then he pulls me into a hug. I hugged him back with all my might. After a moment of silence, Pixis begins to speak.

"You have to be strong Mickey. I can't be here for you anymore. I got to go back tomorrow or else my wife will nag me."

"Yeah and your two sons will nag you too." I giggled. He ruffles my hair. "Thank you for everything you have done for me Pixis. Really, thank you so much." I bowed deeply to him. He gives me a heart-warming smile.

"Take good care of yourself Mickey."

"Come visit if you can. Please bring your family too! I love your wife's cherry pie."

"Mm-hmm." He said and walked away. I watched him leave, knowing that we will see each other again someday. I rubbed my locket and walked in. As I opened the door, they were hugging. Then Petra sees me and pushes Erwin away.

"O-Oh! Mi-Miku! Hey your back! Where's Officer Pixis?" she asked.

"He left. He said he had to go home tomorrow." I answered. "Um… I liked to be called Mickey please."

"Mickey? Okay Mickey it is then!" She smiled.

"Let me take you to your room." said Erwin. I follow him to the kitchen. The kitchen was very clean.

"Levi keeps this place spotless." said Petra.

"Levi?"

"Levi is our cook here." answered Erwin. I think back to the cook I saw earlier. That might have been Levi. Erwin leads me to a stair case. '_I guess that they live above the café'_. I continued to follow him up the stairs and came upon a living room. He turns and I see more stairs. We go up more stairs and end up in a hallway. He leads me to a room.

He opens the door and I saw a cute bed with a green and yellow quilt on it and light green curtains hanging above the bed and the window. There was little night stand with a little white lamp, near the bed. The window had a bench under it with the same color as the quilt, cushions. There was also a light brown wooden dresser on the other side of the room.

"This is the guest room, but we will rearrange it if you want." Erwin said kindly.

"Oh no, don't, I really like it! It's cute!" I said.

"There's a bathroom down the hallway." He points where the bathroom. "And that's me and Petra's room, Lucas's room, and Armin's room." I nodded.

"Well get some sleep. Tomorrow we will go shopping for you!" Petra shouts excitedly.

"Oh no, we don't have to!"

"I want to Mickey. You are going to be part of this family now. I want to you to be comfortable and happy here!"

"Um…okay then."

"Yay! Well goodnight!" She said as she went into her room.

"So um…goodnight." Erwin says awkwardly. I bowed to him as he leaves. I enter the room and changed into a navy blue sweat shirt and black shorts. I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. The bathroom was pure white. Everything in there was white. The shower curtains, towels, everything. It was really clean and cute. After getting ready, I slowly went into the nice bed.

'_What a long day. Ahh! This bed is sssooo comfortable. So…this is my new life now huh.'_ I thought. Then my eyes slowly got heavy. Finally, I fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

"_We got to go Miku. Honey come on let's go." my mother said in distress._

"_Mama, why? Where are we going? What about papa?" I asked her._

"_Not now Miku! We have to go NOW!" she said harshly. Then she pulled my arm. I started to cry as she lifted me into her arms._

"_Wait mama, Bubby!" I said._

"_You don't need him Mickey. Leave him." 'I stretched my arms out as my mother ran out the door with me and a suitcase._

I gasped. I sat up quickly in bed. I was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. _'That dream… I feel like it's not just a dream. Was it a memory?' _I start to rub my locket.I heard knocking at the door.

"Come in." I said. The door opened, revealing Petra in a white blouse and light blue jeans.

"Wake up Mickey, it's time for breakfast. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I'll get ready quickly!"

"It's okay! It's okay! Take your time to save your energy. Remember we are going shopping today. Just us girls. I always wanted a daughter to go shopping with. Ah! I can't wait! Come down stairs when you are ready!" She left while humming a little tune. I smiled a little.

I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and got dressed. I wore a black sweater and dark blue skinny jeans with holes at my knees. Lastly I put on my make-up, put on my uggs, and went down stairs. Everyone was not in the living room so I figured that they are in the café.

When I got there, everyone was eating already. They were eating pancakes. Lucas was cover in syrup, Armin was eating very gentlemanly, and Erwin was reading the paper while drinking coffee. Petra comes in with a stack of pancakes. She notices me and gives me a big smile.

"Mickey! Come have a seat! Sit here next to me!" she said as she pulls a chair for me. I gave her a little bow and sat down. Petra gives me some pancakes on my plate. I thanked her and put some syrup and butter on my pancakes. I felt everyone's eyes on me. _'Man this is so awkward.'_

"Are the pancakes good?" asked Armin.

"They're delicious." I answered politely. He gives me a little smile then continues to eat his pancakes.

"Hey Aunt Petra, can I go hang out with my friends today?" asked Armin.

"Sure you can!"

"Alright!"

"Hey, mom can I go to the park with Troy and Annabell?" asked Lucas.

"Will there be an adult?" Petra asked. Lucas nodded.

"Yup! Troy's dad will be there!" he answers. Petra nods. Lucas gives a huge smile to his mom.

"Yay! Thanks mom!" A half an hour later we all finish breakfast. Armin and Lucas left to go hang out with their friends.

"Honey, are you going to be okay?" Petra asked.

"Yeah Levi is coming soon."

"Alright have a good day!" She said. Erwin grunts in reply.

"Let's go shopping!" she shouts as she pulls me away. We walk down the streets of Tost until we stopped at a little clothing store. The inside was white and gray with black mannequins wearing the latest trends and fashions.

"Try this!" said Petra. She shows me some skinny jeans and some jackets. I tried on clothes and shoes for two hours. Then I saw a cute blue dress with a white cardigan. I touched it gently. It was such a cute dress!

"You like it?" Petra asked. I nodded my head.

"There… really isn't many places that sells dress in Brass." I told her. _'It's true; Brass was a wreck after the Titan Plague. Crime and homelessness went up. Lots of businesses went under. It got a little better since the princess tried some new ways to get little towns out of the gutter so I hope in the future, everything will get better in Brass and other places.'_

The plague totally fucked up Wall Maria and parts of Wall Rose. It was caused by two guys from some other country that caused all of it. They came in from Shinganshina in Wall Maria with some disease. The disease started to rapidly spread till most of the population was affected. What it did was that it started to eat away at the skin. Soon enough it spread to parts of Wall Rose, but not that much. Over three thousand people lost their lives. Most of them died off blood lost. Finally, a cure was made and stopped the disease. Those who survived either lost their limbs or their limbs were able to be reattached, leaving scars showing that they were survivors. The name Titan Plague or Disease was based on mythical creatures called Titans.

Titans were huge human-like creatures that roamed here thousands of years ago. There were different types of titans. Some were big as a tower to the size of a house. These creatures ate people. In a story, they caused the king to build three walls to protect us. Eventually a group of brave heroes defeated the Titans and reclaimed the land.

"Well let's get it!" Petra says energetically.

"But we already have so much!" I protested but Petra ignored me and took the dress. She bought all the clothes we chose and started to go home.

"Wow that was fun! We should do this again some time!"

It was fun actually. We started to talk about music, movies, books, and other things. We have the same tastes. We both like Coldplay, Kelly Clarkson, anime, and so many other things as well. We laughed and had fun on the way home.

"We are back!" Petra announces.

"Welcome back." says Erwin. He comes out of the kitchen to greet us. Behind him was a very short man with dark hair and steel gray eyes.

"Mickey this is Levi the cook we told you about." said Erwin. _'So this is Levi!? He's so short!'_ I tried to contain my laughter and bowed to him.

"H-Hello Levi, my n-name is Mickey." I said trying to hide my laughter.

"The hell you laughing you little shit." Levi said. He gave me a harsh glare. I stopped snickering. _'He's terrifying.'_

"I did the laundry for you. I don't know who they belong to so I just left them on the couch." Erwin said.

Oh thank you! I'll take care of that." said Petra.

"I can do it! It's a thank you for the clothes. What should I do with my old clothes?" I said to Petra.

"Thank you! Oh and you can just throw them away or something. They seem to be worn out." Petra said. I nodded and went up stairs. I grabbed the pile of clothes that look like it would fit a 9 year old boy and took them upstairs. I tried to recall which room is whose. After a few seconds I gave up and guessed. I knocked on the door till a same voice spoke.

"Come in." it said. I entered the room to find Lucas on the bed reading The Secret Garden. His room was covered in posters of different superheroes such as Batman, Superman, Captain America, and Iron Man. He had Star Wars sheets, a small Tardis lamp on his night stand, and shelves of comic books. I was astonished by the room. _'I love his room.' _The big cut out Batman and Robin caught my eye.

"Dude, I love Batman." I said with a big smile.

"Really, you like it!?" he said. I nodded quickly.

I left his clothes on his nightstand and we quickly began to fangirl and fanboy about superheroes till I remembered that I have laundry to return.

"Awe man, I forgot about the laundry!" I said. As I get up, Lucas grabs my sleeve.

"Will you come back?" he asked. I nodded and left the room. I went back down stairs and grabbed the stack of clothes for a 16 year old boy. When I went back up stairs, I forgot which room I came out of. _'Damn it, why can't they have signs or something!_' I guessed again and knocked on some random door. The door opens and reveals Armin. _'I am ssooo good at guessing!'_

"Hey, did you need something?" Armin asked.

"Oh here are your clothes." I said as I handed him the stack of clothes. I took a peek inside his room. He had posters of nature and space.

"You have a nice room." I said.

"You like space and nature?"

"Yeah I do. Nature is peaceful. It's the beginning of life for everything. And stars are beautiful. They tell stories about heroes and great creatures of our imagination." He looks at me stunned.

"Sorry to bother you. I'll be going now." I said as I backed away and went down the stairs. _'Did I say something weird?'_ I grabbed the last two stacks of clothes from the couch. It seems like it belongs to people over the age 30. I took the clothes to the room I haven't tried.

Their room was plainer than Armin's and Lucas's room. Their bed was white with blue flowers on it. They both had their own nightstands with regular cream colored lamps. They had a huge dresser and their own bathroom. As I put down their clothes, something captured my eye. It was a picture of their wedding day. Petra was wearing a beautiful lacey wedding dress. Erwin wore a black tuxedo with a blue tie. _'Wow they are so lovely.'_

"That's our wedding day." said a deep low voice. I turned around and saw Erwin standing at the doorway. He slowly walks over to me. After a long silence, he suddenly starts to speak.

"Did you have fun today?" he asked.

"Yeah I did! Mrs. Smith is super nice and she's really funny!" I said. He smiles, but his eyes tell a different story.

"Oh did I say something weird?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, it's just…Mrs. Smith?"

"Oh um… sorry… I just don't know what to call you guys."

"That's okay. Just um… call us what you feel comfortable with." After another long silence I asked:

"Is Mr. and Mrs. Smith okay?" His smile became a frown and he lowered his eyes.

"I'm sorry; I know you want me to call you dad, but… I'm not ready to call you that officially yet. It's been a long time. We should learn more about each other and start out as friends. But, when I'm ready, I will call you dad as much as you want." I said honestly. He gives me a long look and grunts in reply. I gave him a little smile. Then, he throws me something. I catch it to find out that the thing I caught was Bubby.

"You left it in the café last night. Keep it: it's yours." He said and walked away. I hugged Bubby to my chest. I went back into my room and threw away my old clothes. I put my new clothes in the dresser. Then, I put my new shoes in the closet. I grabbed Bubby and put him on my bed. _'I feel really bad about what I said to Erwin, but… I hope I can call him dad one day.' _I slowly walked down the hall to Lucas's room. I knocked on his door till he told me to come in. He saw my face and looked worried.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I gave him a smile.

"I'm fine." I said gently. He quickly grabs a movie from the shelf. He holds up an animated Batman movie.

"Do you wanna watch?" he asked. I nodded. He pats his bed, telling me lay down with him. I sat down and laid there with him as we watched the movie. Eventually, we both fall asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan, Marvel, Star Wars, Dr. Who, Batman, Avatar, and Elvis.**

My slumber was ruined by the sound of the Darth Vader theme. I opened my eyes to see a room covered in superheroes. _'Oh, it's Lucas's room. I guess I fell asleep.'_ I slowly got up from the bed. I saw Lucas next to me, sleeping like a bay through the alarm. We were both covered with a nice light blue blanket. I looked around to find the alarm.

'_There it is!'_ It was a Death Star alarm clock that was next to the Tardis lamp. _'God, this room is amazing! Maybe I should reconsider decorating my room.'_ I turned off the alarm and slowly got out of bed. I shook Lucas, telling him it was time to get up.

"Five more minutes…" he says sleepily. I giggled and tucked him in. I noticed the TV was off. _'I guess someone came in here took care of everything.' _I quietly left the room.

A couple hours later, when everyone was awake, Petra comes bursting into the living room with a silly smile on her face.

"Mickey! Great news! You are now officially a new student at Trost High School!" she says literally jumping up and down.

"Trost High School?" I said curiously.

"It's the only high school in Trost. I go there too so I'll show you around on Monday." explains Armin as he looks up from his book about ecosystems.

"Thank you." I said. _'Wow, school huh. I am scared and excited. I wonder what is like at Trost High.' _

"Hey Mickey, thanks for hanging out with me last night! It was really fun! Can we do it again sometime?" says Lucas. I nodded and ruffled his hair.

"You guys hanged out?" asked Erwin as he looks up from the newspaper. Lucas nods and smiles.

"Yup! We talked about superheroes and watched Batman! It was so much fun!" Erwin smiles at him and ruffles his hair. Then Erwin sits up strait as if he remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Mickey needs to know how to get around the city?" Everyone nods at this.

"I can do it." Armin offers. Erwin grunts in agreement.

"Wait, what about the café?" I asked.

"It's closed on the weekends so we can do whatever we want." said Petra. Armin closes and sets his book down as he stands up.

"Come on get ready. We got a lot of walking today." said Armin. I got up and followed Armin to get ready.

Thirty minutes later we were ready. I wore my new dark blue skinny jeans with new black converse and a white shirt with a black sweater over it. Armin wore gray jeans with red converse and a red sweater with a white shirt under it. '_Ha, it's like we're wearing the same thing._' I smiled was we left the café.

"This is the grocery store, the craft store," Armin points out as we walked down the street. "And that's the one and only park in Trost, Aberrant Park." I looked over at the park. I see the lake in the idle of the park. _'Oh I remember that park. I met Eren there.'_ I smiled at the thought of Eren. _'No! Snap out of it! You just met the guy! Don't go drooling over strangers Mickey!'_

"Is everything okay, Mickey?" asked Armin.

"I'm fine!" I said with a cracky voice. '_Ugh, the hell is wrong with m? Just, calm down Miku.'_ I sighed to relieve some stress as I continued to follow Armin. Eventually, we came upon a big brown building. There was a sign painted on the side of the building. It said Trost High School in big red and white letters with some human like creature on the side.

"This is Trost high School: Home of the Fighting Titans!" announces Armin. "Sorry I can't show you around the school. It's locked up for the break. I'll show you around the school Monday."

"Okay!" We continued walking till Armin stopped. I turned around worried.

"Armin, are you okay?" He was silent for a minute. Then he starts to speak.

"What's going on? You just popped up into my family's life, saying that you're Uncle Erwin's daughter. And now you are living with us no questions asked? I'm confused about the situation. Can you tell me what's happening?" I stayed silent. _'Yeah, well I'm just as confused as you are. I mean, my mother just abandon me. He should at least know.'_ I was about to answer till I was cut off by a loud shout.

"Armin!" shouted the voice. I turned around and saw that horse-faced guy with that freckled kid from the café.

"Jean! Marco! What's up!?" Armin replies. Marco and Jean start running towards us. Marco was wearing a gray shirt and light blue skinny jeans and Jean was wearing a long sleeve blue V-neck sweater with dark blue jeans. They stopped short when they spot me.

"Hey! You're that cutie from the café!" said Jean. Jeans rushes towards me then, he leans on the wall. "So how's it going sweetheart?" Jean says in a low tone, trying to be sexy. _'Okay, that's creepy._' I smiled at him, trying to be nice.

"My name is Jean, Jean Kirstein." He introduces himself.

I was so uncomfortable; I started to take some steps back. Every time I took a step back, he would go a step forward. _'The fuck is he doing, going all up in my space like that.' _ Jean starts to get closer and closer to me till Armin pushes him away.

"Whoa! Armin, what's wrong? Is this your girlfriend or something?"

"No! She's… a friend." Armin lies. Jean tilts his head. _'I guess he's not ready to break the news to them. That's fine. I'm a total stranger to him, it's natural.'_

"Yeah, a friend with the same fashion sense as you; ha! Yeah, right!" Jean shouts and puts Armin in a headlock. I stood there watching the scene until Marco slides up beside me.

"I'm sorry, Jean was just excited." said Marco.

"Hello, my name is Marco. What is your name?" Marco says politely, giving me one of the cutest smiles I have ever seen.

"Mickey." I answered memorized by his smile.

"It's nice to meet you Mickey. I hope we can be friends." Marco says as he lifts up hand for a hand shake. Still memorized by him, I shake his hand.

"Awe, how come you can get a girl's name but not me?" pouted Jean. Marco giggles and turns a little red as he shrugs. Jean puts his arm around Marco, pulling him into a headlock.

"So, what are you guys doing?" asked Marco.

"I'm showing Mickey around." Armin answers.

"Can we come along too? We're board and have nothing to do." states Jean.

"Is that okay with you?" Armin asks me. I nodded my head.

"Sure, why not." I answered. After that we continued to walk around the city. After a long time of silence, Marco starts to talk to me.

"Is Mickey a nickname?" he asks.

"Yeah, my real name is Miku." I answered.

"Wow! Are you foreign?"

"No, my mom is. She's Japanese."

"Wow! I have a friend who's Asian too."

"Really!"

"Yeah!" He gives me that award winning smile. We had a nice conversation and a nice trip around the city. By the time we were done, the sun was setting.

"Well, I have to go home. I was nice meeting you Mickey." Marco says happily.

"Me too!" shouts Jean. "See you around hot stuff." He gives me a wink. Then Jeans was pulled by the collar by Marco and left.

"Wow, they're really nice." I said.

"I guess." Shrugs Armin.

"How do you know them?"

"I met them in middle school when I moved here."

"Moved?"

Armin smiles and stops talking as he walks away. _'I guess he doesn't want to talk about it?' _I quickly sped up to catch up to Armin.

We finally got back home to see that dinner is ready. Erwin and Lucas were already at the table.

"Hey guys! Right on time! Grab a seat!" shouts Petra. We quickly take our seats. Petra sets a bowl of corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, and some fried chicken. It looked so good; my mouth watered.

"Eat up!" Petra says excitedly. We all filled up our plates with delicious food. This time we actually talked at the table. It was awkward for the first few time but, now it's noisy. I kind of like it.

"So Mickey, tell us more about yourself." asks Erwin. I froze on the spot.

"There isn't really to say about me." I answered.

"Oh come on! Tell us anything. Allergies, dislikes, things you like to do." said Petra. I sit there quietly thinking about what I should say.

"Um… I like Marvel." I said.

"What about school? What are you like?" asks Armin.

"I'm an average student." I said honestly.

"Did you have a lot of friends at Brass?" asked Lucas.

"Not really. The plague left most of Brass kind of empty so I only had one or two." I said as I continued eating. '_Man, talking about myself is weird. But, at least they should get to know me a little and I should get to know them more too.'_

"What about you guys?" I suggested. "I should learn about you guys too!" Everyone looks at me curiously. _'Damn, they probably think I'm trying to change the subject.'_

"I like ninjas!" Armin says suddenly. _'My hero!'_

"I like food!" shouts Lucas.

"I play the violin." said Petra.

"I…like… action movies." Erwin says awkwardly. Everyone giggles as Erwin turns a little pink. For the rest of dinner, we all talked about ourselves. From Lucas liking Avatar: The Last Airbender to Erwin liking Elvis Presley, I learned many things about my new family. '_I am going to enjoy living here.' _I thought as I eat my dinner.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

The next morning, I was suddenly woken up by Petra's scream. It startled me and I fell out of bed.

"Mickey, get downstairs now!" Petra calls. I slowly got up off the floor and got dressed.

When I get to the living room, everyone was there. Petra was jumping up and down like a child on Christmas Day. Petra notices me and jumps over the furniture to get to me.

"It's here! The acceptance papers are here!" Petra shouts on the top of her lungs, swinging an envelope around. _'Already, maybe they are not that lazy like Pixis said they were.'_ Petra hands me the envelope.

"You open it. I'm afraid that I will rip the papers." I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. _'Dear Smith Family, we are sorry to say that Miku Stevens will not be accepted into your family.' _When I read those words, time just stopped. _'What?'_

"Let me see." Petra asks politely. She takes the letter out of my hands and starts to read the letter out loud.

"Dear Smith Family, we are sorry to say that Miku Stevens will not be accepted into your family…" she stops reading for a moment. Then, she continues to read the letter but not as happily as before.

"In these circumstances, the possibility of Nanami Stevens' return is high. Until her return, Mickey will stay with you as her guardians blah, blah, blah." Petra says angrily. She crumbles up the letter and throws it across the room.

"Aunt Petra…" Armin says worriedly. Erwin gets up and gives her a hug_. 'That's so stupid. I'm going to call Pixis.'_ Thinking that thought, I snuck away from the room. I grabbed the nearest phone to call him. I dialed his number with great urgency. Finally, Pixis picks up the phone.

"Hello, Detective Dot Pixis of the Brass Police Department how can I help you?" he asks monotonously.

"Pixis, it's me." I said seriously.

"Oh Mickey, what's wrong? Getting into trouble already?"

"Funny, but no. I need to ask you something."

"Well, ask away little mousey." He said happily_. 'Ugh I hate that name. Just because I'm shy doesn't make me timid as a mouse!'_

"Please don't call me that. Anyway, the papers got turned down."

"What?!" he screams.

"Yeah. They said that there's a high possibility that mom will come back."

"Well…do you believe that she will come back?" I shut my mouth not knowing how to answer.

"Mousey?"

"Again don't call me that."

"Then answer the question."

"I…I don't know." I said as I slowly lean on the wall and sink to the floor.

"…I'll look into it for you. I have to ask questions about them for a case anyway."

"Awe you care about me."

"Shut up…You have a nice thing going on."

"What do you mean?" I asked but he says as he hangs up. I giggled a little. _'He never changes.'_ I thought. _'I miss him._' I sneak back into the living room, putting the phone back. I walk back to see a crying, wailing Petra. Erwin was trying to calm her down by rubbing her back. He whispers something into her ear and nods eagerly.

"Of course we will still do it!" She shouts as she stands up from the couch. She wipes her tears with the back of her hand and shouts my name.

"Mickey!"

"Yes?" I answered.

"I need you to pick up some things!" She says as she hands me a list. I read the list to find some strange things.

"Romenesco , Samphire, Durian?" _'What the fuck are these?'_

"I need you to get all these items now!" she says as she pushes me down stairs. She hands me a lot of money.

"Here you go and now get going!" Then she pushes me out the café door. '_What the hell?_' I start to walk down the road to find these weird things.

_Three hours later…_

'_Ugh fuck! I'm so fucking lost! Where the fuck am I? Why did Petra send me out instead of Armin or Erwin or someone who knows this place better than me!?'_ I start to lose my mind at this point of this errand. _'I don't even know what these thing are? Are they fruit, vegetables? I know I'll use my phone!'_ I reached to my pocket till I realized…I don't have a phone. _'I'm so fucking stupid.'_ I thought as I sat down on a nearby bench. I read a big clock nearby to see the time. _'It's already 12. I'm never going to find these things.'_ I was about to give up till a familiar voice calls my name.

"Mickey?" I looked up to see who it was.

"Eren!" I said surprised.

"Yo!" He waves his hand. He wore his black leather jacket and light blue jeans. _'Damn, he looks hot…no Mickey stop!'_ I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled at him.

"What are you doing out here?" He asks as he sits next to me.

"Oh… just going shopping."

"For?" I showed him the list Petra gave me.

"Um… I don't know what these are." I sighed in frustration. As if he notices my stress he walks over to some stranger asking about the things on the list. After a few minutes he comes back, happy as a puppy.

"I got the answer! These are exoticfoods. You can only get these in certain stores." he said.

"Sweet thanks!" I thanked him. Suddenly, he gently grabs my hand.

"Let's go." He tugs my hand gently.

"You don't have to come with me."

It's…just dangerous for a girl to walk around by herself."

"Oh… thanks." Then we both started to walk.

**Four hours later…**

"Oh my god, that took forever." Eren says as he holds a bag while holding my hand. It's 4 o'clock now. We have been all over the city to find exotic foods.

"Yeah but it was fun. Thanks for coming with me Eren." I thanked him again. He turns his face around.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Y-Yeah." I stare at the back of his head noticing that his ears are red. Then I feel like I'm going red so turned my head as well. We were quiet for awhile. After a little while, I notice some familiar surroundings.

"I can go from here." I told him.

"You sure?" he asks as he tightens his grip on my hand. I nodded. He slowly let's go of my hand.

"…I'll see you around then."

"Yeah." He slowly backs away and leaves. I turn around and left to go back home.

I open the café door to see the whole family waiting for me. They notice me and welcomed me home.

"Welcome home!" they shouted.

"I uh… got the food you wanted."I said as I raised the bag.

"Thank you!" thanked Petra.

"We got a surprise for you!" shouted Lucas.

"Close your eyes Mickey." said Armin.

"Um…okay?" I closed my eyes and felt someone grabbing my hands and leading me up the stairs. After some time we finally stopped.

"Okay, open your eyes." Erwin says gently. I opened my eyes to see that my room has transformed. My bed had black and white pillows and a checkered black and white blanket. There were posters of some Marvel heroes, movie posters such as Howls Moving Castle, and Alice and Wonderland posters. There's an odd shaped bookshelf with some comics and books. My nightstand has a little white rabbit with a little mouse alarm and a checkered patched up lamp. And my dresser had a little TV and empty picture holders.

"Wow!" I said amazed at my new room.

"I know you might not be able to stay but, you a part of this family to us so… our gift to you." Petra says to me as she hugs me. I hug her back.

"Who did you guys know all of the things I like? I didn't really open myself with you guys." I asked.

"We made a call to Pixis and he was willing to give us all the things you liked." Armin answers.

"We got of this stuff today and put your room together while you were out." Petra hugs me tighter.

"Group hug!" announces Lucas. Everyone comes over and hugs me tightly. _'I was right. I am going to like here.'_ I thought as I hugged my family.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**I made a new story. It's called Cursed. It's a Free! Iwatobi Swim Club one so if you want to read it you can!^^ Reviews are always welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

A new day has arrived. But the sad thing is it's a Monday which means it's the first day of school for me. All I know is that it is going to suck.

"Wow you walk slow Mickey." said Armin who was way ahead of me.

"Sorry." I apologized to him and tried to catch up to him.

We arrived at Trost High early so Armin can show me around but first we have to go the office to get my schedule and books. _'Woah, the school is bigger inside than the outside.'_ The inside was huge. The lockers were red, white, and yellow.

"Follow me." ordered Armin. I followed like a little puppy to the office. When we got there, the administrative were hard at work already. Armin grabs my wrist and drags me towards one of the workers.

"May I help you?" The lady asked in a monotone voice.

"This is Miku…?" Armin starts to introduce me but he forgets my last name.

"Stevens, Miku Stevens." I finished. She types away on the key board.

"New student huh?" she says with a stoic look. She prints out some papers and gives them to me. "Welcome to Trost High." I thanked her and bowed my head. "Are you going to show her around?" she asked looking at Armin.

"Yes ma'am." He answered politely. She rights something on a little piece of paper and hands it to him.

"This pass will excuse you from class till you are done." She says and returns to her work. We leave the office to go on our little adventure. He takes my schedule to take a look to where my classes are.

"You have Mr. Nanaba first. He's the math teacher here." Armin says not looking up from the paper. He motions me with his head to follow him. After a few minutes, we ended up in front of classroom.

"This is his room." He said.

"What is Ms. Nanaba like?" I asked.

"Well, I never had her but, I heard she's pretty laid back kind of teacher." Then, a high voice calls Armin's name. We turned to the direction of the voice to see a small blonde girl running towards us. She jumps and hugs Armin like they haven't seen each other for a long time.

"Armin, it's good to see you!" she says with a happy voice. She had blue eyes and wore a yellow dress and sandals. She looked a little familiar to me but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Krista calm down it's only been a few days since we last saw him." said a deeper voice. A really buff boy walks over to us. He wore a gray zip-up jacket and blue jeans.

"Reiner, don't be like that." Krista tells him and gets up on her tippy-toes and kisses him on the cheek. He looks familiar too. Then, they both look at me.

"Hey, you look familiar?" Reiner says to me. Krista nods her head in agreement. 'She wraps her arms around Reiner's arm. '_Wow she's short. I wonder if she's taller than Levi.' _I wondered.

"This is Mickey. She's staying with my family for the time being." Armin answers.

"Really? Why?" Krista asks.

"It's a long story." Armin says as if he is trying to avoid the subject. Taking the hint, Reiner reaches his hand towards me.

"I'm Reiner Braun and this is my girlfriend Krista Lenz." He said kindly. I hesitantly take his hand and both shake our hands.

"I am Mickey Stevens." I said softly as I bowed my head.

"If you have questions, you can ask us." Krista says with a smile. Reiner grunts in agreement. I thanked them for the offer.

"So are you showing her around?" Reiner asks. Armin nods and shows him the schedule.

"Hey, I have the same Biology class as you." He says surprised by the discovery. "Mrs. Zoe is crazy but, she at least knows what she's talking about. I'll help you." We all agreed and went to Mrs. Zoe's room. Then we heard more people call out their names. We all turned and see Marco, Jean, and three other people coming in our direction. One was short and bald boy wearing a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up. He was holding hands with a tall girl who was eating a hash brown with the other hand. The last one was another girl who was taller and darker than all of them.

"Oh hey it's Mickey!" said Marco.

"'Sup good looking?" said Jean. I hide my disturbance with a smile and greeted him normally.

"So this is the girl you talking about?" asks the very tall girl.

"Yeah, this is Mickey. Mickey this is Ymir." said Marco.

"Nice to meet you." She said as she sticks her hand. I took her hand and shake it.

"Nice to meet you, too." I said.

"And I'm Connie and this is my beautiful, wonderful girlfriend Sasha!" blurts the baldy. I giggle at his remark.

"Nice to meet you guys too. I'm Mickey." They both smile at me with kindness.

"You guys are loud in the morning." said a monotone voice. Two more girls walk towards us. One was blonde with blue eyes and the other was a black haired girl with dark eyes.

"A-Annie!" Armin says as he turns red. He turns his face away. The two girls walk up towards the group with very emotionless faces.

""Mikasa and Annie this is Mickey. She is starting school with us today. Mickey, this Annie and Mikasa." Marco introduces me.

"It's nice to meet you." I said very meekly and raise my shaking hand. _'These girls are kind of scary.'_ Mikasa takes my hand and smiles a little at me. Annie nods her head and goes towards Armin.

"It's nice to meet you too." Mikasa said and shakes my hand. _'Never mind then.'_

"Mikasa is the girl I told you about. She's Asian." Marco says to me.

"Cool." Mikasa says coolly then, she bows to me. I also bow to her.

"Where's the asshole?" ask Jean. '_Asshole?'_

"He'll be here soon." Mikasa answers roughly.

"Damn, I wanted to kick his ass today! He pulled that shitty prank on me the other day! It's payback time!" Jean shouts as he balls his hands into fists. _'Oh dear.'_ Then, Jean gets tackled to the ground. As I looked at the guy who tackled him, I notice that he looks familiar.

"What did you say?" asks the guy in a deep, irritated voice. As I heard the voice, I hit me who it was.

"Eren?" I said. The guy looks up at me and his eyes widen.

Mickey." Eren said.

"You two know each other?" asked Mikasa. Eren nods and gets off of Jean.

"I meet her a few days ago." Eren says memorized by something_. 'Is he staring at me? Is there something on my face?' _As Reiner sees this, he gives Eren my schedule.

"Here, take her to her classes." He said.

"What?"

"And take this too." Armin says as he gives Eren his pass. "The lady didn't right my name so it's okay." Then everyone pushes each other, leaving us behind. I looked at Eren and he looks at me.

"Well…um… follow me." He says quietly and quickly walks down the hallway with his head in my schedule.

"Hey wait for me!" I said as I tried to catch up to him. After that, he shows me to my classrooms till the bell rung. He shoves the schedule into my hands and quickly leaves.

"Thanks!" I shouted. He responds by waving his hand. Then, I went to my first class.

**Three Hours Later…**

'_Finally lunch! I'm starving!'_ I thought as I rush to lunch. I entered the cafeteria to see many, many students there. The cafeteria was huge. The line was really long so there was no way I can get my lunch on time. Thank God, I had brought lunch. Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I gasped and turned quickly to see who it was.

"Woah, hey, calm down. It's only me." said Reiner. "Come sit with us." He said as he pulls my arm. He drags me to the table in the middle of the cafeteria. Everyone was there, waiting for him.

"Hey Reiner. Oh, you found Mickey!" said Krista. She pulls me down to sit next her.

"Mickey, this is our friend Bertholdt." She says as she points to a really tall boy in front of me. He smiles but doesn't say anything.

"Sorry, Bertholdt doesn't really talk." She said as she eats her salad. I looked at Bertholdt to see him staring at Annie who was talking to Armin. I looked at the others at the table. Marco and Jean are in a deep conversation, Connie and Sasha are feeding each other, Ymir was staring at Krista who was hugging her boyfriend's arm. Then,my eye met with Eren across the table. Suddenly, Mikasa elbows him and feeds him some bread. Seeing that I looked away, conflicted about what that was.

"So, where are you from?" Krista asks.

"The other side of Wall Rose."

"That's cool." After that we talked till the end of lunch.

**After School…**

I walked home with Armin silently. When we got to the café, I see Mrs. Zoe there with her hand in Levi's. 'Wow. I didn't know they were dating.'

"OH! I got to go pick up Annabell!" she shouts and jumps over tables then exits the café. Levi looks at me with a glare he always has.

"What brat? Surprised that I have lady?" he says as he narrows his eyes at me harshly.

"No sir!"

"Hmm." Then, he walks back to the kitchen.

"How does she get here so quickly? School just ended." I asked Armin.

"She doesn't teach for the last period of the day." He answers as he goes towards the back. Then, Petra runs out of the kitchen, heading towards me.

"Mickey! How's school?!" She asks as she pulls me to a table and makes me sit down. I told her everything that happened. She seemed so happy that I made friends on the first day. Then, Armin comes out with an apron and a notebook.

"Working already?" Petra says to Armin. He nods and goes to a table.

"Can I help?" I ask Petra. Petra gives me a look. After a few minutes, she nods with that big smile. I get up and grabbed a pen and note book. Petra gives me a apron so that I look like I work here. Finally, I start to take orders from customers.

After work, dinner, and getting ready for bed I hang out in my room. _'Today has been a good day. No homework, new people… I hope it will be like this every day.'_ I thought till I fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

It's been three weeks that I have started Trost High. I already made a lot of new friends. I got to know them more and more every day. They all have been friends for a while now. Eren and Jean fight all the time which makes each day interesting. Jean flirts with Mikasa twenty times a day but she says no each time. Connie and Sasha are really funny. Everyone was different but they all get along no matter what. Every day was a blast! For the first time in a while, I was having fun with my life.

"Mickey!" shouted Krista. "We need your help!" Marco, Jean, Eren, and Mikasa were behind her, heading towards me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"We need your help to get Armin and Annie together." Marco answers.

"They been had having chemistry since middle school." Jean says as he folds his arms, jealous of their relationship.

"They need to be together! Can you help us?" begs Krista as she holds my hands.

"Why me? Couldn't you get Connie or Sasha to help you? They're together aren't they? They might help better than me."

"Connie is an idiot and so is Sasha. Connie accidently confessed to her. And Sasha almost screwed up on their first date. If we had their help they would screw everything up." says Eren.

"Well, they're together now." I pointed out.

"True." Eren agrees.

"Please?" Krista begs. _'Well, they do seem to like each other.'_

"Okay. I'll help you." I said. Krista hugs me tightly, making me lose oxygen. _'Damn, she's strong.'_ We decide after school to hang out after school to create a plan to get Armin and Annie together.

After school, we went to a coffee shop so that Armin doesn't find out. It was little shop with brown walls and pictures from the 1960's about this place started. Marco and Jean pushed a table to the other for all of us to sit together.

"So what will we do for Operation: Get Together!" Krista announces.

"We're giving this a name?" Jean asked.

"Well of course! This is important!" said Krista. We all sat silently, thinking of a way to get them together. Then, I thought of something simple and could possibly work.

"What about getting them to meet somewhere? We can say that we should hang out on a Saturday or something but, we don't show up. Only Armin and Annie do. That could work." I said to them. They all look at each other.

"That could work." Mikasa agreed. Everyone nods in agreement.

"Where should they go?" questions Eren.

"The park is a good place. They both like nature." states Mikasa.

"I'll text him to see if he is free on Saturday to go the park with 'us'." Marco says as he pulls out his phone.

"Then, I'll text Annie." Mikasa as she also pulls her phone out. Krista giggles in excitement. Then, she stops as she realizes something.

"What if they decide to leave if no one comes? We need a lookout." Everyone starts to think of who should be the lookout. Then, everyone looks at me.

"Me?"

"You're quiet, they will never notice you." states Jean.

"I can be loud." I pouted.

"No, you are as quiet as a mouse." I pouted some more at Jean's statement.

"Fine, I'll do it." I gave in.

"We also need a second look out just in case." points out Marco. Suddenly Jean grabs Eren's arm and raises it high into the air.

"Eren volunteers!" Jean shouts.

"You asshole!" Eren yells at him. They start to give each other glares.

"I'm doing you a favor dumbass!" Jean and Eren continue to argue.

"Okay, Mickey and Eren will be the lookouts!" announces Krista as she's trying to get Jean and Eren back to their senses. They stop arguing and looked away from each other. Then, Marco's and Mikasa's phone vibrated.

"Armin can make it." Marco says happily.

"Annie can too." said Mikasa. Marco raises his glass of water into the air.

"Cheers to Operation: Get Together!" Marco announces. Everyone picks up their coffee and we clicked our cups.

It was Saturday, the day of the plan. I hid behind a tree waiting for Armin and Annie. _'Where are they? They were supposed to meet at the lake 15 minutes ago.'_ Then, someone touched my should, causing me at almost scream. A hand covers my mouth. I looked up to Eren looking at me. He grins and lets me go.

"You're finally here!" I said.

"Sorry, Mikasa kept trying to make me do chores but, I was able to escape." He said as he laughs a little. "Where are Armin and Annie?"

"I was wondering the same thing." We both waited for them for thirty minutes already. Finally, I see them coming towards the lake. I poke Eren and pointed him to Armin and Annie. He nods and we both hid in the bushes.

"Where are they?" Annie asked Armin.

"I don't know. I'll call Eren." He said as he pulls out his phone. I turned towards Eren worried that he didn't have his phone on high volume. Eren shows me his phone. He pressed a button but, the phone doesn't turn on, meaning that it off. I sighed in relief and focused back to the would-be couple.

"He's not picking up. Did we get the wrong spot?" Armin titled his head.

"All well. There goes our plan." Annie said to Armin_. 'Plan? What plan?'_ "We were finally going to tell them that we are dating. Too bad, they were really waiting for this to happen." _'Wait, they were already dating!?'_

Come on, let's go on a date." suggested Armin. Annie nods and raps her arms around Armin's. They walked away happy.

"Are you serious?" Eren puzzled by this discovery. "Why did he tell? He's been my best friend since we were kids! What the fuck!"

"Eren, calm down. Maybe there's a reason why they didn't say anything." I said. He stops yelling and became quiet for a few minutes. He turns around to look at me. Suddenly reaches for me.

"You got a leave in your hair." He said as he pulls it out gently. He lets it go into the wind. It gently floats away. I looked at his profile. The wind blowing in his air as he watches the leave fly away, made my heart beat fast. I turned red and looked away. I looked back at him to find him staring at me. We made eye contact and stared at each other. His face slowly gets closer to mine_. 'Is he going to…'_ I thought but I get lost in his eyes. My head started to move on its own and I get even closer to his face. Our lips were only centimeters away. He gently brushes his lips against mine. As if he realizes what he has done, he quickly moves away, turning to a deep shade red.

"I'm sorry!" he apologizes and he runs away. I tried to stop him but, he disappears. I slowly put my fingers onto my lips. _'Why did he apologize?'_ I didn't mind the kiss. But, for some reason, it made me want more.

On Monday, everyone starts to interrogate Armin and Annie. They were pushed back against the lockers as the group tried to squeeze answers out of them.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Krista says in a disappointing voice.

"How did this happen!?" Connie shouts.

"Everyone calm down!" Armin tries to calm everyone down but it doesn't work.

"We started dating four months ago." Annie starts to say. Apparently, she asked him out at Ymir's 17th birthday party because she got tired of waiting for him to ask her out. They didn't want to tell us yet until it was the right time. I found that kind of cute. Annie is the type to be patient but I guess she really liked Armin.

I looked at to the other side of the hallway to see Bertholdt there, looking down at his feet. He quickly turns the other direction as if he was trying toavoid the group. _'What's wrong with Bertholdt?_' I wondered. I didn't know him very well but I was worried about him. Then, I felt someone's eyes on me. I looked over to see Eren, looking at me through his bangs. I smiled at him and gave him a little wave. His face instantly turns red and looks away. But, for some reason I still felt someone's eyes on me. _'If it's not Eren then who is it?'_ Suddenly I felt someone tap my shoulder.

I turned around to see a girl about my height with her black hair in low pig-tails. Her face was familiar but I couldn't remember where I've seen her.

"Miku? Miku Stevens?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm Miku Stevens." I answered her politely. Her eyes go wide in shocked and quickly hugs my so tightly that I could feel my spine shift. _'What's with these people? They could take down a bull with this strength!'_

"I knew it! Oh Mickey I missed you so much!" she said.

"I'm…sorry…who are you?" I asked, barely getting the words out. She slowly lets me go and she gives me a smirk.

"I'm not surprised that you don't recognize me. I've changed a lot in the past five years." She says as she flips one of her low pig-tails. '_Who the hell is she?_' I wondered as I stare at her dumfounded.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

"Wow, I knew you had bad memory but not as much as to forget me." The girl with pig-tails said to me shocked at my reaction.

"I'm sorry." I apologized.

"Ugh, you still apologize when you don't need to apologize? You haven't changed at all. That's sad Mickey. Is there no mind in your head or what?" she said with her arms crossed. "It's me, Mina! Mina Carolina!"

I was strucked surprised that it's Mina. '_God damn, no fucking way._' I thought to myself as I looked at Mina in disbelief that it was her in the flesh.

"You know Mina?" asked Annie. I nodded awkwardly as a response.

"How do you guys know each?" asked Jean.

"We use to live in Brass together!" Mina answered as she puts her arm around my shoulders. "We basically grew up together."

"Really, what was Mickey like as a kid?" question the excited Krista. Everyone seems interested about it and come closer to Mina.

"Let me tell you she-"the bell interrupts Mina in the idle of her sentence. "I'll tell you later. See you later!" said Mina. Then, I quickly left to group to avoid wondering questions of my past_. 'I need to avoid that subject.'_ I avoided them for the rest of the day.

After school, I quickly raced out of the building to go home. Then, someone calls me out.

"Mickey wait up!" a familiar voice calls out. '_God_ _damn it, don't tell me it's…'_ I slowly turned around hoping it wasn't her. Hope was not on my side as I see Mina running towards me.

"Thank God I caught you in time. Let's hang out today to catch up yeah? It's been a long time since I've seen you. I know this great café not too far from here. Let's go!" without my answer, Mina drags me to a little café.

When we got there I noticed it was familiar. I looked up at the sign and saw that it was the Recon café. '_Oh fuck me._' Mina drags me into the café and quickly pushes me into a seat near the window.

"So how's my little Mickey been doing?" she asks.

"I've been…great so far I guess…um…how about you?" I answered. I really don't want to talk to her, but there no escape from this.

"I've been good." She smiled. We became silent for awhile. Then, Petra comes up to us with a notepad.

"Hello welcome to Recon café. What can I get you?" Petra asks. She looks at me with worry. I smiled to assure her that I'm fine. She smiles back, understanding that I'm fine.

"I'll get cup of black tea please." Mina says to Petra.

"Water please." I said. Petra nods and leaves for the kitchen. We still remained silent then; Petra comes back with our order.

"Thank you." Mina and I said to Petra. Mina starts to giggle.

"That hasn't changed huh?"

"I guess not." I looked down at my water as the droplets slide down to the table.

"So…how's your mom?" she asked. '_Fuck!'_

"She's…f-fine." I answered hesitantly.

"You're lying. You stutter when you lie. What's going on? Where's your mom? More importantly why are you here in Trost?" Mina questions me. She gets a little louder with every question she asks.

"What's wrong? Did something happen? Where is Nanami?"

"Shhh! Not so loud." I said.

"Then tell me." she asks. I start to get stressed over how to answer her questions.

"It's…it's complicated right now."

"How is this complicated? These are simple questions that anyone can answer. This isn't as complicated like it was years ago."

"You're bringing that up?" _'How dare she bring __**that**__ up?" _

"That isn't that one simply forgets Mickey." I brushed my hair back out of my face and sighed in frustration. It became silent again. Finally, Mina starts to speak. "Look, I know we had …problems in the past but…right now you are in some trouble are you? I mean you're in Trost. Something has to up?" _'Okay this is ridiculous. I am done!'_

"Don't talk to me like you care." I snapped at her.

"Mickey…"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I do, I've been your friend for a long time."

"No you don't. You don't give a rat's ass about me so stop it." I said to her. I got up from my seat walked out the door.

'_How fucking dare she still calls herself a friend when she did all that stuff to me?! She even brought that up!' _I was very angry about this reunion. I still remember what happened that day. I lost the only friend I had.

"_How dare you!? I knew you were garbage but this…this is something that I can't even explain!" shouts Mina's mom. She yelled at my mom in front of our apartment. Mina was hiding behind her mom as she yelled on the top of her lungs._

"_It's not my fault that your husband is board with you." My mom says bluntly to her. Then, Mina's mom slaps my mom._

"_You ruined my marriage!" Mina's mom says to her as she pulls Mina by the arm and walks away._

After that, Mina treated me like I was garbage. She used to throw rocks at me, blamed me for things I didn't do, wrote and spread rumors about me, all that teenage stuff. After three months, her parents got divorced and she moved away.

I kept walking around the town, trying to clear my thoughts of the past. I didn't know how much time has passed. The only thing notice was that the sun was going down. I decided to go back to the café.

"Mickey?" called out a familiar voice that made my heart beat faster.

"Eren." I said as I turned around. He comes up to me with worried look on his face.

"Petra texted me saying that you left three hours ago after a conversation with some girl. She got worried and she sent everyone to look for you," He said.

"I'm fine. I was just about to walk home." I said trying to avoid him.

"Wait." He said as he grabbed my arm. I pushed him away as hard as I can.

"Just… leave me alone right now okay?" I said to him and walked as fast as I can. But, he caught up to me and walks next to me without saying a word the whole way home. He stops in front of the door of the café.

"See you tomorrow." He says sadly and backs away and leaves for home. I opened the door slowly. Then, I got attacked by Petra and Lucas.

"Where were you!? We were worried sick about you." Petra says to me as she hugs me tightly. Her hug made my back crack. '_Seriously, the inhuman strength? How many people in this have it!?'_

"We need to get her a phone." Armin suggested. Erwin grunts in reply as he ruffles my hair.

"We won't ask questions about what happened today. We want you to talk to us till you are ready to talk about it." said Erwin. I felt so much warmth from them; I started to tear up a little.

"Oh no she's crying!" Lucas shouts.

"I'm not crying." I said. Everyone laughed.

"Come on, dinner is ready." Petra says as she heads to the kitchen. Then, we all had dinner together, having the most amazing time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Warning: Slurs**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan.**

It's been a week since me and Mina's conversation. Nobody bothered to ask what happened that made me leave, which made me grateful. The past was hard for me to talk about. My mother did many things to take care of both of us that she wasn't proud of but she did what she had to. Brass wasn't the safest place to live even before the Titan plague. Many gangs and prostitution rings were all around. It got worse after the plague. There wasn't really that many places to work since most of the stores were closed down. Even through all that, she took care of me the best she could, whenever it was legal or not. I am going to live this life the best I can for her; to show her that I'm fine; that she raised me well; that everything is okay.

I went to my locker to get Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck for English class. Then, I spot Marco coming over to his locker. I'm glad that our lockers are next door to each other. That way, I could avoid awkward conversations and embarrassing myself in front of them.

"Good morning Marco!" I greeted him. He looks at me and gives me that model smile of his.

"Hey, Mickey!" He greeted back while he opens his locker. Suddenly, a bunch of magazines and photos fall out of his locker. Marco curses and bends down to pick them up. I bended down too, picking up the magazines. I looked at one of the photos on the floor. There was a man with incredible abs and wearing only boxer briefs. I looked at more of the photos and saw that they are all similar to the others. Some of them were only wearing underwear or jeans. All of them were mean. _'What are these?'_ Then suddenly, Marco was called out.

"Hey, faggot! Whatcha got there? Gay porn?" said a guy in a jock jacket with a titan on the left side of it. Then, he pushes Marco into his locker. Him and his friends start to laugh and started to call him many gay slurs. They left, laughing down the hall.

I helped him up to his feet after they left. I was extremely worried about him. _'What the fuck is there problem?'_

"Are you okay Marco?" I asked him. Marco looks at the ground and doesn't say anything. "Marco?"

He snatches all the pictures and magazines from my arms. He storms off to a nearby trash can and slams the photos and magazines into it. Then he walks quickly away as if he was trying to avoid everyone's stares.

I turned to close his locker for him but then some other pictures capture my eyes. I looked closely at the pictures to get a better look. It was pictures of him and Jean. Most of the pictures were him and Jean. Only two pictures were with everyone. I got even more worried about him. I slowly close his locker and went to my next class.

It was lunch time and sat at the end of the table as usual. I looked down the table to see Marco and Jean in an animated conversation. I watched Marco to see if he's okay. He seemed happy with Jean. Then, Bertholdt calls me out.

"Mickey, right?" he says to me. His voice is low as if he was only trying to talk me.

"Yeah. You're Bertholdt, correct?"

Yeah." He nods his head. "Why are you looking at Marco?" I stayed silent, choosing my words carefully to ask him a question that was bothering me so much.

"Is…Is Marco…gay?" I whispered to him. He seemed shocked by my question.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" He said surprised. "Man, you are very clueless aren't you?" he laughs at me. _'Wow, Bertholdt is really handsome when smiles.'_ I thought as I looked at him. "He came out freshman year. It's been hard for him though. We accepted him but others have a problem with his sexual orientation."

"Like those jocks?"

"Jocks?" Betholdt gives me a look.

"He got pushed into a locker this morning. I also think that they may have put many dirty magazines and pictures into his locker."

"Oh, those jocks." he said. "They bully him a lot but Marco doesn't say anything sadly. Sometimes Jean gets wind of it and goes after them. We keep him back to avoid trouble with the teachers. You should avoid them as much as possible. Those jocks are nothing but trouble." I nodded in agreement. I don't even want to be even near them. I asked another question that has been bothering me too.

"Does…Marco…like Jean?" I asked shyly.

"…Yeah. We all know except Jean. He's clueless just like you." he pokes fun at me and laughs. I smiled. _'At least I know he doesn't like me._' I felt relieved that he didn't hate me. After that we talked about school, dropping the Marco conversation completely.

After school I hurried to find Marco. I couldn't ask him how he was doing in front of Jean. It could make Jean worried and angry. I finally found him leaning against the school gates.

"Marco!" I called out as I ran up to him.

"Hey!" he smiles.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, out of breathe. He gives me a confused look.

"I'm fine, why?" He asked.

"I was worried about you after what happened this morning. Nothing happened after that, right?"

"Nope, thank you for worrying about me but I'm fine. It happens all the time." He smiles at me.

"Shouldn't you tell an adult or something? It won't stop till you say something."

"No. it's fine really." He smiles but his eyes aren't then a car honks loudly. We turned around to see on old beat-up Mustang in front of us. The window rolls down, revealing a woman with dark hair and freckles like Marco.

"Time to go home Marco." She says sweetly to him. Marco nods and enters the car.

"Do you need a ride?" he asked me with that smile again.

"I'm fine, thank you." I tried to smile back. Then, they drove away. I watched the car drive away down the street with a heavy heart.


End file.
